Whether this Court's decision in Central Bank, N.A. v. First Interstate Bank, N.A., 511 U.S. 164 (1994), forecloses claims for deceptive conduct under § 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, 15 U.S.C. § 78j(b), and Rule 10b-5(a) and (c), 17 C.F.R. 240.l0b-5(a) and (c), where Respondents engaged in transactions with a public corporation with no legitimate business or economic purpose except to inflate artificially the public corporation's financial statements, but where Respondents themselves made no public statements concerning those transactions.

Question:

Are claims for deceptive conduct under Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 barred by the Court's decision in Central Bank v. First International Bank when the defendant engaged in fraudulent transactions designed to inflate a corporation's financial statements, but made no public statements concerning those transactions?

Note:

THE CHIEF JUSTICE [ROBERTS] AND JUSTICE BREYER TOOK NO PART. Sep 20 2007 The Chief Justice is no longer recused in this case.